Container closure



Feb. 20, 1934. L. B. GREEN CONTAINER CLOSURE Original Filed Jan. 8, ,1931

In veal-e Lee, B, great/7 A/ 911% Patented Feb. 20, 1934 UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER CLOSURE Lee B. Green, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor to The Globe Machine & Stamping Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 8, 1931, Serial No. 507,338 I Renewed January 10,1934

3 Claims. (Cl. 220-55) relates to the class of containers in which the closure is held in sealing relation to the receptacle by means of clamps which are mounted on the receptacle and which engage portions of the closure. In this aspect, my invention aims toprovide a closure having its clamp-engaging portions formed so as to distribute the pressure of the clamp considerably beyond the area of engagement, thereby permitting the-use of relatively narrow clamps and effectively distributing the clamping pressure over a gasket or other sealing member interposed between the closure and the mouth of the container.

' Furthermore, my invention aimsto provide a omsure of the above recited clamped type, in which no portion of the clamps will project above the top of the closure; and in which the closure portions engaged by the clamp are so formed as to add rigidity to the closure, thereby permitting the use of lighter material for this closure than would otherwise be required.

Moreover, my invention aims -to provide a clamp-attached closure in which the above recited advantageous features can readily be secured with widely varying shapes of the top of the closure-as for example with both flat, tops and dome-shaped tops-and whereby the said advantageous features can be secured with widely varying sectional shapes of a sealing ring interposed'between the receptacle and the closure.

Still further and also more detailed objects will appear from the following specification and the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a perspective view of'the upper portion or a metal container embodying my invention, showing this as it appears when the cover or closure is clamped in sealing relation to the container.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of an edge portion or the container.

Fig.3 is a similarly enlarged elevation oi an upper portion of the container.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through a portion of the cover or closure, taken radially or the latter.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken radially of the container and along the longitudinal axis of one of the clamping means, namely along the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, when the cover is clamped to the container.

Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. 5, taken when the clamp has been released and is being swung I to its open position, with dotted lines showing the positions of the parts of the clamping means when depending in their opened disposition.

' Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are sections of edge portionsof other forms of covers and closures and.

of theparts adjacent thereto.

In its immediate commercial applicationamy invention is particularly advantageous for use in connection with containers constructed entirely of sheet metal and employed under conditions involving pressure differences between the interior and the exterior of the container, v hence I am more particularly describing my invention in connection witha corresponding embodiment. I

In the drawing, Fig. 1 shows the upper portion of thecontainer or a-washing machine of the class in which the container is manually rotated when in use and is equally adapted for use with so called dry-cleaning liquids or for use with hot water and soap; other desirable features of such a hand-operated washing machine being more fully disclosed in my copending application #513,068, filed February 3, 1931 for United States Patent on a Dry-cleaning or washing machine.

When using such a machine for washing clothes with boiling water and soap, the water within the container gradually shrinks in volume as it cools, thereby producing a partial vacuum in the remaining portion of the container. Consequently, the relatively higher pressure of the outer'air will press the cover or closure so firmly against the receptacle portion of the container (even after a releasing of clamps employed for latching the closure to the receptacle to hold the closure in sealing relation to the receptacle during the rotation of the container which agitates its contents) that it requires considerable efiort to raise the closure or cover of! the receptacle.

If the peripheral portion of the .cover has an outer flange depending outside the mouth portion of the receptacle, any woman pressing her fingers upwardly against the lower edge of this flange to raise the cover is apt to have her fingers scratched or lacerated by this'flange edge, since it is difficult in practice to round such flange edges without adding considerably to the cost or the cover. Moreover, the metal used for such covers or closure members is usually of such small thickness that digitally engaged edge of the metal will dig into the fingers of the user and makethe latter sore even if these fingers are otherwise uninjured.

To guard against such occurrences, and also tosecure other advantages hereafter pointed out,

I desirably form the closure or cover member for f and the outer depending fiangeZA of this bead is recurved outwardly and upwardly to form an annular trough which has the upper end of its outer trough wall 3A disposed'considerably belowthe level of the top of the said bead 2.

The corresponding receptacle has the upper end of its generally cylindrical peripheral wall 5 curled at its upper or mouth end to form a bead 6. Thebead 6 preferably has its inner edge flush with the bore of the receptacle wall 5, this bore being of approximately the same radius as the outer face of the radially inward riser wall of the bead 2 and the width of the bead 6 (radially of the receptacle) being slightly less than the interior width of the said inverted channelforming cover bead 2. Moreover the height of the said cover bead 2 is desirably such that this bead will entirely house the mouth-end bead 6 came receptacle even when. an annular sealing member ,7 is also disposed within the cover bead above the said receptacle bead 6.

This sealing member is here shown as a soft rubber tube 7 wedged in the upper portion of the cover bead 2 and compressed vertically between the latter bead and receptacle bead 6 when the cover is clamped down upon the receptacle. For effecting this clamping, I desirably employ at least three clamping mechanisms spaced uniformly about the periphery, of the container and permanently mounted on the receptacle, each of which clamping mechanisms includes a movable hook member having a cover-gripping portion 'end of a lever 13 is pivoted, desirably by providing the said end of the lever with two pivoting wings 13A through which the said'pin 12 extends. These pivoting wings are spanned at a distance from the said pin 12 by a second and 66 also horizontal pivot pin 14, the distance between the axes of the two pins 12 and 14 being desirably a small fraction of the length of the lever 13.

Pivoted upon the second pin 14, as-byhaving one end portion 15A curled about ,this pin, is

a hook member 15 having its other end recurved to form a hook 153, the direction of the curving being inwardly with respect to the receptacle when the'hook member is swung so as to present its hook end uppermost.

When the lever 13 is swung in a. counter-clock- '1,94s,2cs a wise direction from its clamp-releasing position of Fig. 5, it carries the hook member with it and raises the hook portion 153 so as to dispose the tip of the hookhigher than the top of the outer trough wall of the cover, so that the tip portion of the hook can engage the outer'wall 2A of the cover bead when the lever is swung still farther in the said direction than shown in Fig. 5. Then a, return swinging of the lever (in a clock-wise direction) will first draw the free end end of the hook into the trough 3 and thereafter cause the hook member to pull the cover downward,'thereby vertically compressing the sealing member 6 and likewise expanding this sealing member radially of the cover to afford an effective seal between the receptacle and the cover.

By suitably proportloning the vertical spacing of the lever-pivoting pin 12 from the top of the receptacle bead 6, with respect to the length of the hook member 15, the resiliency of the sealing member will permit the lever to be swung in the said closure-clamping direction until the hookpivoting pin has passed a plane 16 extending through the hook-engaged portion of the trough and along the axis of the leverpivoting pin 12, thereby automatically latching the lever and hook combination in itscover-closing position.

In practice, I desirably form the hook end 153 of the hook member so that it will arch freely above the top of the outer trough wall 3A (as in Fig. 5) when the clamping arrangement is operative, thereby causing the extreme tip of the hook to press downwardly on the ,bottomof the trough, and also curve the hook tip portion (fiatwise) as shown in Fig. 2 to correspond to the horizontal radius of the trough bottom. -By thus forming the interhooking parts, I cause'the down- Ward pull on the hook member to pull downward on the outer wall of'the cover bead 2, and this tension action on the said bead wallis distributed over a considerably greater length of the bead than the width of the said hook tip, particularly since the arched bead formation gives high rigidityto this portion of the cover. Consequently,

I readily secure an adequate pressure distribu-.

tion to compressing the sealing member for its entire length, without requiring auxiliary clampheads (as has heretofore been proposed) and while employing lighter metal for the cover than has been found necessary with cover-clamping arrangements heretofore employed.

To detach the cover, each clamp is released by merely swinging the lever from the position of Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 6, thereby automati cally unlatching thehooking and relaxing the compression on the sealing member. However, if a partial vacuum has been created in the con--' tainer, the. pressure of the outer air on the cover may still hold the cover in a lowered position at or approximating that of Fig. 5) until the cover is manually raised for a sufiicient extent so as to allow air to enter the receptacle.

This raising can readily be done digitally, particularly when the outer bead wall 2A on the cover depends for a considerable distance below the bead on the receptacle so that the fingers of the user can reach freely under the trough on the cover to press the latter upwardly. In exerting such pressure, each finger 30 engages the rounded trough bottom (as shown in Fig. 4) so that these seats on a flat-topped bead 26 on tions of the cover, no part of the clamping means to my invention can readily be stacked upon one another it provided with suitably formed bottoms.

However, while I have heretofore described my invention in an embodiment in which theecover includes an upwardly convexed bead adjacent to the peripheral trough, and in which this bead entirely houses both the sealing member and a bead on the mouth-oi the receptacle when'the container is tightly closed by the clamping means,

I do not wish to be limited to these or other details of the construction and arrangement above dis- I closed, since many changes 'might'be made without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

For example, Fig. shows an edge portion of a cover having an upright flange 18 depending from the outer edge of the flat major portion 1'1 of the cover, this flange being recurved at its lower end to afford a trough, and the receptacle having an outwardly directed flange 21 supporting a hollowsealing ring '7. I

In- Fig.5, a head 20 of angular section is interposed between the main and flat cover portion 19 and the trough, which bead houses a solid sealing ring- 23 resting on a receptacle bead: and in Fig. 9 the cover bead 24 tapers downwardly so as to grip a solid sealing ring or gasket 25 the receptacle wall 4.

So also, I do not wish to be limited to the use of my cover trough and trough-hooking arrangement in connection with receptacles formed of sheet metal, or for use in connection with a sealing ring. For example, Fig. 10 shows a solid bead 29 formed on the mouth end of a receptacle 28 which may be of] fibre, earthenwareor the like; and shows the cover as having a bead 30 seated directly on the receptacle head 29, it being obvious that my previously described trough and trough engaging clamping would function equallywell with containers. having parts thereof formed after the manner of Figs. '7, 8 and 9, and also (though with a less tight sealing eflect) when these parts are constructed and termed as in Fig. 10.

I claim as my invention: 1. The combination with a receptacle, of a cov er for the mouth thereof having its marginal portion provided with a depending flange located at the outer side 01' the receptacle, said flange being provided with an outturned upturned portion forming with the depending flange an open trough of which the outturned portion constitutes the bottom and the upturned portion forms the outer wall, and means for attaching the cover to the receptacle, said attaching means including an upstanding hook having an inturned and downturned end that extends over the'said outer trough wall and bears upon the bottom of said trough, and means connecting the hook tothe receptacle to draw said end downwardly upon said bottom, said means permitting the lateral movement of the hook to pass over the outer trough wall. Y a

2. The combination with a receptacle, of a cover for the mouth thereof having its marginal portion provided with a depending flange located atthe outer side of the receptacle, said flange being provided ,with an axially curved outtumed and upturned portionforming with the depending flange an open trough, of which the outtumed portion constitutes the bottom and the upturned portion forms the outer wall, and means for attaching the cover to the receptacle, said attaching means including an upstanding hook having an inturned and downtumed and transversely curved end that extends over the said outer trough wall and has an extended bearing upon the bottom of said trough, and means connecting the hook to the receptacle to 'draw said end downwardly upon said bottom, said means permitting the lateral movement of the hook to'pass over the outer trough wall. I

3. The combination with a receptacle having a continuous wall surrounding its open mouth, of a cover for said mouth having a marginal depending flange overlying the outer side of the receptacle at said mouth, said flange having an outtumed portion atits lower end and said outturned portion terminating in an upstanding wall of less height than the flange and forming with said flange and outturned portion a trough'having an open top, and means for attaching the 

